Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Limited (SGX:QC7) Stock's Been Sliding But Fundamentals Look Decent: Will The Market Correct The Share Price In The Future?

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Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) (SGX:QC7) has had a rough month with its share price down 5.7%. However, the company's fundamentals look pretty decent, and long-term financials are usually aligned with future market price movements. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)'s ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

See our latest analysis for Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) is:

12% = S$12m ÷ S$102m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every SGD1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of SGD0.12.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.

A Side By Side comparison of Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)'s Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

To start with, Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)'s ROE looks acceptable. Even when compared to the industry average of 12% the company's ROE looks quite decent. This certainly adds some context to Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)'s moderate 6.7% net income growth seen over the past five years.

As a next step, we compared Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)'s net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 15% in the same period.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. What is QC7 worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether QC7 is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 97%, meaning that it is left with only 2.7% to reinvest into its business. This implies that the company has been able to achieve decent earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.

Additionally, Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Existing analyst estimates suggest that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 56% over the next three years. As a result, the expected drop in Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)'s payout ratio explains the anticipated rise in the company's future ROE to 20%, over the same period.

Summary

On the whole, we do feel that Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) has some positive attributes. Its earnings have grown respectably as we saw earlier, probably due to its high returns. However, it does reinvest little to almost none of its profits, so we wonder what effect this could have on its future growth prospects. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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